Nix of Lythari
by Dhampire Hunter
Summary: Harry learned of his inheritance shortly into the summer of his fifth year. He battles his inner demons to make the change work. Harry is a Nix, but looks like a Dark Elf and has some powers from a Lythari. Full chptr will explain his heritage! pre-slash
1. Chapter 1

Greif had all but consumed me when it happened. Day after day I was confined to my room, rot because I was "freakish" but because I wanted to study.

The day after I returned from Hogwarts my aunt had sat me down at the kitchen table and told me that she knew what I was going through.

She told me she was going to help me in any way possible. A week into the summer aunt Petunia had taken me to the biggest library in Little Whinging and had gotten me a membership card. On my first visit I began researching everything I could. I began with mythology, runes, botany, history and muggle technology. Within days I had absorbed everything in the books, I learnt that I have a brain that is even better than Hermione's when I want it too be.

On June twenty-first I returned to the library and got more books on each of these subjects and I began researching communication and self-defence.

Every morning I would get up and begin my study-fest. Vernon would then storm into my room and demand to know what I was reading. When I held up the perfectly ordinary book he would wander off.

On the return journey of my third visit to the library pain suddenly flared right through my body. I was gone as quickly as it came. This pain felt a lot like the Cruciatus Curse. I picked up my fallen books and set off for Number Four Privet Drive.

When I arrived back home Aunt Petunia was sat at the kitchen table drinking honey-tea. She instructed me to sit with her. I sat cautiously at the table. She poured me a cup of tea and I thanked her. She slowly began to talk about the Evanna family. They were a family of elves, many, many elves. She talked of how their name changed slightly over the years, how it changed to Evans. She told of her mother and her father; a squib and a Night Elf respectively. Aunt Petunia described how my mother looked and I was in awe. According to Petunia Lily had long blood-red hair that flowed down her back, apparently it did look like blood sometimes and very pale skin, like most Night Elves. She told me how Lily had been a mixture of sub-races and therefore more detectable by "the Scroll." Petunia had been jealous at first but she soon realised that because she was pure-blooded she would not be so easily registered. Aunt Petunia had been born an Avariel Elf and learned how to be a Mage. Lily had been part Lythari and part Dark Elf but had a dash of human in her.

Petunia slowly got around to how she had hid what she was from Vernon and then explained to me what she thought I was. I was stunned.

My father's family had also been non-human. They had been based around the elements more. The Potter grandparents had been a Water Nymph and a Water Elemental. Their children were named James, Maryanne and Kerianne. James had been a Nix, Maryanne had been a Naiad and Kerianne had been a Banshee.

Petunia told me that I would have to leave. She would undo the spell she herself had cast on me to make me look human and then she would send me to live with Maryanne. I was shocked. She quickly composed a letter to Aunt Maryanne and sent it with Hedwig.

Aunt Petunia told me to sit and wait while she fetched some things. I waited patiently until her return. When Aunt Petunia returned she was carrying a tray. On the tray was a bottle of a sickly green liquid and a brush. Strapped across her back was a staff. The staff caught my eye. It was amazingly carved. The staff was silver, and had Runes carved into it. At the head of the staff threads with beads rattling along their lengths were looped through small holes. She told me to lay on the table. I pulled myself onto the hard wood and willed my muscles to relax. She left again.

This time when she returned she was wearing a short tan-leather dress, a tunic really. The skirt was cut along the outer thighs for movement.

She took the bottle and the brush. I closed my eyes. I felt something cold on my forehead, wrist and neck. I cracked open my eyes. She held the staff, her right hand near the butt and her left near the head. I heard it sail through the air above me but the beauty of the movement enraptured me. Petunia arced the staff over my body and struck the butt against the ground.

The same pain I felt a mere hour ago rocketed through me once again. This time it was for a much longer period, more drawn out and centred within me. This was true pain, not a false illusion created by the Cruciatus. I stayed silent throughout this torment.

Finally the torture ended and I was able to stand up again. Petunia pulled me upstairs. She instructed me to sit on the floor. I carefully sat down and watched her. She opened a locked trunk and pulled out a pair of black leather trousers and a black tunic. They were female elf clothes but she didn't have anything else. She turned away whilst I changed into the garments. When she whirled around she pointed to the mirror. I gasped. I looked… so different. My skin was so pale, so pallid I was amazed. My hair looked like a long black river, my ears… my gosh I will not fit in at Hogwarts anymore and I was taller, much taller though I would not be taller than any human.

Petunia suddenly whipped out her hand and caught a piece of parchment. She smiled ad handed it to me. It read;

_Dear Petunia and Harry,_

_I am so very glad to hear from at last. I would be happy to look after Harry and train him as you ask. Send him to me as soon as you can. _

_Love from Maryanne Potter XX_

I smiled. I would be training. Aunt Petunia told me to pack my things and wait downstairs. I complied readily enough.

Soon I was sat on the couch downstairs, my feet propped up on my trunk. Petunia walked into the room shortly after three o'clock. She had a pendant hanging from a think silver chain. The pendant was a white-gold and onyx yin-yang symbol. She asked me to hold out my hand. I did so and she gave me a pendant. Like the one she was wearing it had a thick silver chain. The pendant was an emerald water droplet. I smiled. Aunt Petunia told me how to activate it. I activated it and felt a jerk behind my naval.

--

I arrived in a field; there were small hills dotted all over the place and there was a shallow stream encircling this lush field. In the centre of the field was a small, clear pond. I set my trunk down and looked around. I knew Maryanne had to be bound to a body of water so… the pond was the obvious answer. I made my way over to the shallow dwelling.

"Hello Harry," said a voice from nearby. I whirled around, reaching for my wand. "Tut, tut Harry. You need to be much faster than that. If I were Voldemort you would be dead." goaded the voice. I looked around wildly. There was no-one to be seen. "The first rule; never rule out the implausible. Look in the pond." I walked over to the pond. "Come closer, Harry," said the voice. I knelt down in the damp reed-shoots.

Something burst out of the water faster than I could blink. Floating eerily above the pond was a woman, an indescribable woman. Then her form solidified and she became more human-like. She was a very beautiful woman, her hair was long and flowing, a very light blond highlighted with green and blue, her skin was very pale and had a blue-ish tint to it, her lips were paler still, her dress was a shimmering blue-green colour; like that of a river, bound in her hair were several water lilies. The overall effect was very appealing. I assume it was Maryanne.

She glided forward, her petit feet skimming the water's surface. I stood stock-still hoping she was actually Maryanne and not someone hostile.

"Harry, it is so wonderful to finally see you!" I watched her carefully. "Let me introduce myself; I am Maryanne, your aunt Petunia should have explained everything but she may not have. We shall begin your training immediately."


	2. Chapter 2

For the purposes of this story I will not be making up _all _of the elven language, I will be borrowing parts of the language from Christopher Paolini (The author of the Inheritance Cycle.)

**I was the morning we left for school. We being my Aunt Maryanne and I. I was bent over the freezing stream washing my hair. When the last of the bubbles had been washed out I straightened up. I immediately became aware of a presence behind me. I launched into my attack, a dual footed kick to their jaw. I was shocked to see they weren't there, so shocked in fact that I crashed into the ground. I felt my ankle crunch under my weight. I sprang up, hopping slightly. Stood a few metres away, looking completely out of place, was Professor Snape. He was watching me with an amused glint in his eyes. **

"**Professor Snape! What are you doing here?" His face suddenly morphed into a mask of worry.**

"**Has Maryanne unbound herself yet?" I froze. How in the world did he know?**

"**I think she hasn't yet… why?"**

"**Listen carefully because I tell you this only because I owe it to her and by relation and other complicated factors you as well. Your father and I were in the same year at school and I hated him. No… I didn't hate him as a person, I hated the fact he was a pure-blooded Nix when I myself was only a half-blooded Vampire. Many people will assume, and wrongly so, that I loved Lily Evans. I did not, I treated her with more respect because she wasn't a pure-blooded Elf and was a mixture of their races. I didn't want to be a cross-breed.**

**It was our third year and much like Draco Malfoy I would visit your father's compartment and torment him about being a 'Mermaid'. **

**I walked into his compartment and saw that he and his sisters were sitting together. My first thought was 'hurrah, stupid Gryffindors to mock' but upon closer inspection I found something was not right. Kerianne was laying across one of the seats, her hands clamped over her ears. James and Maryanne were sat together, Maryanne was curled in a ball in the corner begging for someone to end her misery. It was obvious to anyone, even someone like Crabbe or Goyle, that she was in an extraordinary amount of pain. I asked if the strongest Pain Relief Potion I could brew on the spot would help. I was told it wouldn't, quite civilly, by James. I asked him to move but he just gaped at me like a moron so I picked him up by his collar and moved him. I sat next to Maryanne cross-legged and then pulled her onto my lap. I rolled up my sleeves to my elbows and said to her 'kick me, punch me, break my nose, pull out my hair, crush my ribs, scratch me, bite me, do whatever the hell you want to me. It will take your mind off the pain. I'm a half vampire so I can take it better than any human.' Let's just say she took my advise. **

**When we got to Hogsmeade I refused to let go. At first I just thought the process was just painful but then I realised that she was dying. By the time we got to the Entrance Hall, she was leaning heavily on me. **

**McGonagall told me to leave but I refused. When we went into the Great Hall I was told by my Head of House to sit down. I refused as politely as I could. I was then told by Dumbledore to sit down. I told him, in these exact words and tone to; 'shove it. Sideways.' I admit my voice may have been higher… when Maryanne's name got called out she was using me as a crutch, she could barely walk. I helped her to the stool, made sure she didn't fall of the stool, walked her to Gryffindor's table. I then held her upright all through the feast. **

**James, Maryanne and I decided that we would perform the ritual the next morning because we were all exhausted. **

**I half-carried her to Gryffindor Tower and was, amazingly, admitted. I managed to bypass the wards on the stairs so that I could make sure she actually got into her dorm. I stood there for about an hour before she told me to sleep on the edge of her bed. There were still other Gryffindor girls awake and they all giggled. I told her 'that would be more than a little creepy.' I slept sitting up on the hard, cold stone floor. As far as I know Maryanne didn't sleep. **

**I carried her to breakfast that morning, she was in too much pain. At that point she wasn't weak but the pain had worn her down… Upon our arrival everyone winced. I looked like hell; I had scratches all over my face and arms (some of them were quite deep), my nose was broken (yes that is how my nose got so crooked), clumps of my hair were missing, I had massive black eyes, a split lip and bite marks all over my arms. Naiads have really sharp teeth… anyway, when I asked James how to perform the ritual he didn't know. We owled your grandfather but he had research the damn thing. It took three weeks and by that time Maryanne couldn't do anything and she refused to go to Madam Pomfrey. She was refusing any aid except my own. I would take her to breakfast, help her eat a few mouthfuls, take her to he class, take her notes for her, and so on and so forth. The only time she was without me was when she was getting changed and going to the toilet. Which was when I myself got dressed and took care of myself a little. By the time we bound her she was almost dead. There was an immediate change in her behaviour. I helped her catch up with her classes and then caught up with my own. After these events I would go on the train with her every time she was going home or coming back, even if I myself wasn't leaving and after my graduation. I am reinstating the tradition." I watched warily. The story was heart-wrenching and it changed my view of him. **

"**Why did you hate me?"**

"**The answer is simple; I had to pretend because a lot of morons think I am a loyal Death Eater." I laughed. I led him to the pond. Aunt Maryanne was sobbing softly, kneeling in the reeds. Professor Snape pulled her into a tight hug. I smiled and looked away slightly. Maryanne stopped crying almost immediately and clung to him. **

"**Stand up properly so that Harry can unbind you." She let go off him and stood shakily. I chanted the incantation softly. **

**When I had finished the spell Maryanne slumped. Snape caught her. He was acting as her human crutch again. **

"**Harry, take my arm, we are going to apparate." I shook my head.**

"**You can't apparate with an unbound Naiad. It would kill her. Allow me." He nodded vaguely. I held out my arms, my wrists dangling languidly. I suddenly whirled in full circle, picturing the three off us. **

**We reappeared at King's Cross Station. I smiled at my Professor. He looked slightly dazed. I led him to my usual compartment. He took off his shoes and socks and then sat cross legged on the seat opposite the one I took. He planted Maryanne on his lap and rolled up his sleeves. I could see several scars, as well as the Dark Mark. I held up my hand and motioned for him to hold out his left arm. I quickly cast a Glamour Charm on the Mark and then motioned for him to proceed. He shook his head and then removed it. **

"**No! My friends don't know you are a spy." He nodded in comprehension and reapplied the Glamour. I couldn't help but smile at them; she looked so petit in his arms, it was adorable. They looked the very opposite of each other and that's what made it work. I glanced at my watch. Colin should be on the train and I need a picture of this. I wandered out with my excuses.**

**I found Colin relatively quickly and asked if I could borrow his camera. He nodded and handed it to me. **

**I walked back into my compartment, snapped the picture and left. I handed the camera back to him with a request for the picture when it was developed. He nodded and I walked back into my compartment. I was watching the platform, looking out for Ron and Hermione. When I saw them I opened the window and called for them. Ron immediately made a beeline for the compartment. He froze in the doorway.**

"**Who are they?" Snape laughed. So did I, really Snape didn't look that different. **

"**The guy is Professor Severus Snape, Potions Master of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and the girl in his arms would be my Aunt Maryanne." Ron's jaw dropped. "They are practically married." Ron's jaw gaped even wider. Snape's look turned stony.**

"**We are not- ow, Maryanne I appreciate the fact you are in a lot of pain but could you not wriggle. Your bony backside hurts." Ron looked ready to faint. The most feared person at Hogwarts was holding a girl whom he apparently adored and had just joked. **

"**Severus, my darling, your bony body hurts, and I am not the one who is an unyielding half-vampire," she spat out between clenched teeth. I laughed at the look of indignation that flitted across Snape's face.**

"**I am not **_**bony **_**I have muscle…"**

"**Severus you are bonier than Harry and I really didn't think that was possible." Severus put on a look of extreme put-outness. I laughed so hard and even Ron chuckled. I was watching Professor Snape and my Aunt. I winced as she sliced into his arm with her fingernails. Snape watched tiny beads of blood well up on his skin. **

**--**

**Most of the journey passed in relative ease. Hermione joined us two hours into the ride and greeted the Professor politely. He gave her a charming smile and replied in the same fashion. Hermione was speechless.**

"**I think you broke her." I said. Professor Snape laughed. The laugh quickly turned into a grimace of pain. Maryanne had thrown her head backwards, either severely bruising his ribs or breaking them. She squirmed against him and he scowled again. **

"**Please. Stop. Wriggling." He said in an exasperated voice. Hermione was watching Maryanne with a look of concern. **

"**So, Professor, are you two married?" Snape's look hardened minutely. **

"**No we are not married."**

"**They will be soon though. He would jump off a cliff for Aunt Maryanne." Hermione looked at me like I had grown a third head. (Completely ignoring the absurdity of growing my second head.) I shrugged at her and pushed my hair behind my ears. Hermione screamed softly. **

"**What?" I asked.**

"**Your ears!" She exclaimed.**

"**What about my ears?" I asked.**

"**They're pointed."**

"**Yeah, so?"**

"**Well, I don't know, you aren't human. Explain yourself, immediately young man!" I didn't know where to start. **

"**No I am not human. Nearly all of my family aren't human, 'tis the common thing for the Potters and the Evans'."**

"**What was your mum, dad what are your aunts?" **

"**My mum was part Lythari part Dark Elf with some human blood in her. My dad was a Nix. Aunt Petunia is an Avariel Elf and Aunt Maryanne is a Naiad."**

"**Aren't Nixies' female?" She asked. **

"**No, the form that I am using it in, the Germanic context, Nix is the male version. Nixe would refer to their female counterparts and Nixie is the plural."**

"**Oh, what are Lythari and Avariel Elves?"**

"**Avariel Elves are elves that have wings. They live in mountains and are nearly extinct because Dragons like to hunt them. Lythari are elves that turn into wolves. They are like werewolves but they keep their human mind during the transformation; like they are an animagi, but they may have an animagus form."**

"**Wow, you really know a lot about magical beings."**

"**Of course I do, the Evannas and the Potters were families of magical beings."**

"**Weren't the Evannas a family of elves? They disappeared about fifty years ago."**

"**Yes , the Evannas were a very large family of elves. The last couple of generations used the name Evans. My grandfather, Laeolai Evanna, shortened it to Evans. He married outside of his race. Laeolai married a young squib named Cassandra Weaver. The family didn't disown him but it caused a rift to grow between them. They began repairing it shortly after I was born. While at Hogwarts my mother used her formal elven name; Liliae Evanna."**

"**What about the Potters," Hermione continued, "there isn't any record to even suggest they were non-human."**

"**The Potters were mostly beings that could pass for human; vampires werewolves, nixies and Elementals and so on and so forth." **

"**What were your grandparents?" asked Ron curiously.**

"**My grandfather, Murtagh Potter, was a Water Elemental and my grandmother, Eris Lokai, was an Oceanid."**

"**Did your dad have any other siblings?**

"**Yes, Maryanne's twin sister Kerianne. Kerianne was a banshee." Maryanne shifted slightly. The compartment door slid open. **

**Draco Malfoy stumbled in. I immediately got up and pushed him into my vacated seat. Ron made a furious noise and moved slightly. His robes were torn, bloody and tattered. Blood was flowing freely from his nose, I noted the darkening bruises around his eyes. I pulled my trunk out of my pocket. I enlarged it and pulled out an opaque red bottle and a brush. I pulled the intricate glass stopper out of the neck and inserted the brush. I told Hermione to hold the bottle. She held it gingerly. I pulled a roll of bandages out of my trunk. **

"**Draco, you came to me several times this summer. The day of your transaction grows near and I cannot magically heal your wounds. I will begin your potions as soon as I have a chance. The stuff that I am about to put on your cuts is a cleanser, it will make sure your wounds don't get infected. Other than that I can't do anything. Is that okay?" He nodded. I motioned for him to remove his robes and shirt. He looked uncomfortable. **

"**Oh god, please tell me Lucius hasn't done something again." Draco looked at his feet. I cursed under my breath. I am going to murder… "Okay, what did he do this time?"**

"**He… used a… switch." I swore explosively, ranting for a good five minutes about stuck-up wizarding parenting and its affects on children's minds.**

"**Take of your damn shirt, I need to look. If there is enough there to be risking an infection I will have to heal it magically and you will probably go through the transaction period sooner rather than later. Is that okay?" He nodded and peeled off the robes. His green shirt was stained with something dark. Draco slowly unbuttoned his shirt. I nodded encouragingly. He removed the bloodied garment. I winced at the state of his chest. Draco's skin was badly bruised, half-healed lacerations dotted his stomach, weeping burns covered his arms. I snapped my fingers and held out my hand expectantly. Hermione handed me the bottle. **

**I gently brushed the solution over a particularly nasty burn. Draco hissed.**

"**If this is your chest, what is your back like?" I asked cautiously. He smirked and said**

"**A lot worse," he swivelled round so that his back was to me. I cursed under my breath in Parseltongue. **

"**Draco, this is far too bad for me to just ignore. I will have to use magic. I will try and heal the worst of it and then bandage you up. I really do hope nothing is too bad." He sniffed and then nodded. **

"**Waíse heill!" I felt the energy leaving me. I concentrated on the wounds that were weeping pus and oozing blood. Then I noticed he had at least five cracked ribs. **

"**Drake, you have some broken some broken ribs. I will have to heal them as well. I don't think I can limit magic enough, sorry."**

"**That's okay, Harry, do what you have to do." I nodded. **

"**Ron could you move please?" Ron sat on the floor. I pushed Draco over and draped my hands over his ribs. **

"**Waíse heill." I said again. He began coughing, retching and struggling for breath. I pulled him up by his shoulders and clapped him on the back.**

_**Be healed, **_**I commanded in Parseltongue. Serpentine rays of light slithered from my palms and into Draco's abdomen. His breathing eased immediately**

_**Be healed, **_**I hissed over and over again. One by one his injuries faded. When everything was acceptable I rummaged through my trunk.**

**I pulled out three glass bottles. I unstoppered a square green one. I dipped the brush into the sickly green liquid. I painted four runes on his chest. A rune for sacrifice, love, healing and blood. **

**The charm protecting Draco fell away. **


End file.
